Dendritic cell therapy - pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Treatment options & modern immunotherapies
Pancreatic cancer is among the most aggressive types of cancer. The disease is often detected late because early symptoms are frequently nonspecific. Modern diagnostics, interdisciplinary treatment approaches, and immunological strategies can help to make treatment more individualized and targeted.
Below we present the classical therapies as well as dendritic cell therapy (DZT) as a complementary immunological approach.
Classical treatment of pancreatic cancer
1. Operation (Whipple operation / left pancreas resection)
If the tumor is detected early and has not metastasized, surgery is the most important treatment option.
Goal: complete removal of the tumor and surrounding tissue.
Only about 15–20% of all patients are candidates for surgery at the time of diagnosis. Therefore, other treatment options are essential.
2. Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a central component of treatment, both adjuvant (after surgery) and palliative in metastatic cases.
Commonly used schemes include:
FOLFIRINOX
Gemcitabine + nab-paclitaxel
These therapies work systemically and are intended to slow tumor growth and extend lifespan.
3. Radiation therapy (radiochemotherapy)
In cases of locally advanced tumors, a combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy may be useful to reduce tumor tissue and enable later surgery or to alleviate symptoms.
4. Targeted Therapy
Personalized medications can be used in cases of certain genetic alterations:
PARP inhibitors in BRCA1/2 mutations
Immune checkpoint inhibitors in rare MSI-high tumors
Molecular diagnostics are therefore becoming increasingly important.
5. Supportive and complementary therapies
Important factors in pancreatic cancer are:
Pain therapy
Nutritional support
Enzyme replacement therapy for digestive disorders
Immune-boosting measures for therapy-induced weakness
Dendritic cell therapy – a modern immunological approach
Dendritic cell therapy (DZT) is a personalized immunotherapy that supports the body's own immune system in specifically recognizing tumor cells and triggering an immune response.
How does dendritic cell therapy work?
Blood draw from the patient
Isolation of monocytes
Differentiation into dendritic cells
Loading with tumor antigens (e.g., tumor lysate)
Maturation into highly active dendritic immune cells
Return to the patient via intradermal injection
Dendritic cells present the tumor characteristics to the T cells, thereby enabling targeted immunological activation.
DZT as a complement to classical therapy
Dendritic cell therapy is often used as a complementary treatment in pancreatic cancer to:
to strengthen the immune function
to improve the detection of tumor cells
to compensate for therapy-induced immunosuppression
to promote long-term tumor-directed immunity
Possible combinations:
• DZT + Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy reduces tumor mass – DZT can complement immunological targeting accuracy.
• DZT + Infusion-based immune system restoration
(e.g. glutathione, resveratrol, artesunate, selenium)
→ Stabilization of the immune system during stressful periods.
• DZT + targeted therapies
In the presence of mutations, the immune response can be further supported.
Goals of the DZT in pancreatic cancer
Activation of tumor-directed T cells
Supporting an individual immune response
Improvement of immune surveillance
Stabilization of the disease course (varies individually)
Supplement to guideline-compliant therapies
Dendritic cell therapy is a patient-specific immunological approach.
No promises of healing are made.